Ambassador to the US Josefina Perpetua Pitra Diakite of Angola

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Born in Lobito, Ambassador Diakite is fluent in Portuguese, French, and English, with good speaking and reading abilities in Spanish.

Ambassador Diakite is married and has three sons.

Diakite said that after independence, the Portuguese civil servants who kept Angola running left abruptly, forcing the new country to quickly build its infrastructure and public administration from scratch.

Diakite is one of only 13 female ambassadors in Washington (interestingly, seven of the 13 are from African countries.

Diakite says that since Angola's civil war was fueled by foreign interests, those same interests are now morally obligated to help the country stand on its own feet.